Emily's Choice (20 page)

So lost in
his thoughts, he didn’t realize Gina was outside his window until she tapped on
it. Rolling the window down, he raised his eyebrows in question.

“He’s going
to help us.”

“How did you
manage that?”

“I told him
if he didn’t get his head out of his ass, he’d be sleeping on the couch for a
very long time.” Gina grinned.

Jason let
out a bark of laughter. “So, what’s he
gonna
do?”

“He’s
sending someone down here to question people at the bar. Not that I think he’ll
get very far with that, everyone in there is drunk, except Ben.”

“The guy
never came in. I sat by the door the whole night. Only locals came in. It’s a
waste of time.”

“I think
Tyler may have seen this man. He mentioned some guy showing up to talk to Emily
today during the reception.”

“Good. I’ll
head out to the ranch right now to talk to him.”

“Okay. I’m
going to run Phoebe home. She’s beyond drunk and won’t be any good to us
anyway. I’ll meet you out there.”

Jason nodded
and rolled up his window. He started out of the parking lot, glad to have
something to do.

She couldn’t
move her arms.

It was the
first thought that came to mind when she woke up. A second later, memories
flooded her mind and she realized she wasn’t passed out from a night of
overindulgence. No, she was in trouble. Big trouble.

She
struggled against her restraints, hoping the man hadn’t tied them tightly, but
no such luck. Did she dare scream on the off chance someone might hear her and
come to the rescue? The last thing she wanted to do was to anger him any
further. But she didn’t want to hang out and wait for whatever cruel intentions
he had for her, either.

He seemed
familiar to her, like she’d seen him somewhere before. She wracked her brain,
trying to remember. It was floating on the outer reaches of her mind and she
couldn’t quite get a good grip on it.

She was
gathering her courage to scream for help when the door opened and a beam of
light shone in the room. Outlined in the doorway was the last person she
expected to see.

“Lila?” she
croaked out.

“Hello,
hello, Emily. So glad you were finally able to join me.”

“What are you
doing? Why am I here?”

“We’ll get
to all that shortly. I just had to see for myself that you were here and
restrained.” She laughed. “Oh, it’s so good to be the one in charge now.”

Lila turned
and walked away, closing the door behind her.

Emily’s mind
raced. Thoughts, feelings, impressions rushed back and forth, but nothing would
stick. Nothing popped to the surface and said “This is what’s going on.” All
she had were questions. Why was Lila doing this? What could she possibly want
with her?

It’s not like
Emily had any money. Neither Clint nor Grace had money. And even if Grace had
money, she wouldn’t have left it to Emily—it would go to Hope. Besides the
fact, Grace had just been buried today. The reading of the will, if there was
one, wouldn’t be for at least another week.

Her heart
was racing and her hands were clammy. Sweat beaded on her lip and forehead. She
continued pulling on the ropes and twisting her wrists, hoping against hope
that they would loosen enough for her to slip her hands free.

The last
thing she wanted was to be at Lila’s mercy. She had to be up and able to face
her—eye to eye—by the time Lila came back. Her wrists were screaming in pain,
but she continued to pull at the ropes.

The door
opened again. This time, Lila and the man entered the room. And she finally
remembered where she knew him from. He was the same man from earlier this
afternoon, who’d threatened Sadie. Edward.

“Where’s
your phone?” Lila demanded.

“I don’t
know. I’m not sure I brought it with me,” Emily replied.

Lila cursed
under her breath and turned to Edward. “He won’t know it’s her. And if I give
her my phone, he won’t answer.”

“She could
text him, announcing herself and asking him to call.”

“But it’s
still my number. He might not even check the message. And if he does, then he’ll
know where she is and send the cops.” She kicked the floor. “Damn!”

“What about
my phone? No one knows the number. It would be unrecognizable.”

Lila smiled.
“Yes, that would work.”

Edward
handed her the phone and moved over to the door, standing guard.

Lila
sauntered over to the bed and sat down next to Emily’s hip. “I bet you’re
wondering why you’re here,” she began.

“Hm. The
thought has crossed my mind.”

Lila’s eyes
flashed with annoyance. “I wouldn’t be smart, if I were you. You aren’t exactly
in the best position right now.” She played with the phone in her hands,
rolling it over and over. She took a deep breath and set the phone on the bed
then reached behind her back. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Emily’s
face. She smiled at Emily’s sharp inhalation. “Now you see I’m serious.”

“About what?”
she whispered.

“About
getting what I want. About finally being the one who wins.”

“Wins what?”
she croaked. “What do you want?”

“What do I
want?” Lila laughed. “I want to win. I want your life. I want you and Hope to
have nothing. To be the dirt beneath my feet as I’ve been yours since I moved
here. I want Jason. I want your life.”

“Take it!”
Emily said. “Take it all. I don’t want it. I don’t want him.”

“I’ve tried,”
Lila screamed, spittle flying from her mouth. “I’ve tried since the day I moved
here to have Jason. But he doesn’t want me. All he wants is you—all he’s
ever
wanted is YOU!” She stood and paced in front of the bed. Heavy steps. Hard
steps.

“I can’t do
anything about that, Lila. I’ve tried. For two years, I’ve tried to give him
the hint. I’ve been subtle. I’ve been obvious. He doesn’t get it. I don’t want
him. Why would I? I walked in on the two of you the morning of our wedding. Why
would I tie myself to a man like that?”

“Because he’s
the father of your child. She’s the reason he won’t give up on you. Don’t you
see that? She’s the one thing that keeps him tethered to you, always willing to
keep trying to win you back.”

“But I don’t
want him back, Lila. Can’t you see that? I’m here, in town, for one reason
only. To bury Grace. Sadie and I are returning to Boston next week. I’m not
staying.”

“That’s not
good enough,” Lila said. “He’ll just follow you. He’ll keep trying. You need to
make it plain and clear to him that you’re done. That you want him to move on
and be happy with me.”

The crazy
was taking hold and Emily could see it enter Lila’s eyes. She was waving the
gun wildly in her hands, and Emily feared for her life. If she wasn’t careful,
she wouldn’t make it out of here at all.

She had to
think. Think! What could she say to Lila to end this? The words she’d been
saying weren’t doing anything to calm the situation or ease Lila’s mind.

“What can I
do?” Emily finally asked.

“You need to
convince him,” Lila said. “You aren’t leaving here until you do.” Lila walked
over and came to within inches of Emily. Leaning down, her face a breath away,
she grabbed Emily’s chin. “I want him. I’ve always wanted him. And I will have
him, if it’s the last thing I do.” She pushed Emily’s face away. “Are we clear?”

Emily
nodded.

Lila picked
up the phone and held it tightly in her hand. “You will make him believe. You
won’t tell him where you are. You won’t tell him who you’re with. You will be
plain and clear and convince him that you don’t want to have anything else to
do with him.” She began to dial Jason’s number. “If you don’t, I will shoot you
and then I will hunt down your brat and shoot her, too.” Lila held the phone to
Emily’s ear and stood sentry over the conversation.

As the phone
rang, Emily wracked her brain for a solution, but her mind went blank.

“Hello?” he
barked into the phone.

“Jason, it’s
Emily.”

“Emily?
Where the hell are you?”

“It doesn’t
matter. What matters is what I have to tell you.”

“Tell me
what? Everyone is worried about you.”

“Jason, I’m
safe and I’m fine. Tell everyone I just needed some air.”

“Was it the
guy from earlier? Did he take you?”

“Jason,
listen. I have to tell you something,” her voice cracked. “Please, it’s
important.”

She could do
nothing but stare into Lila’s eyes while she tried to do as she’d been told.
Even in the few seconds she’d been on the phone, she could tell Lila’s patience
was thinning. She shrugged her shoulders to let her know it wasn’t her fault,
but Lila glared and motioned with her head toward the phone.

“Where are
you? Did he take you against your will? Just tell me where you are and I’ll
come get you.”

Emily
sighed. “Jason!” she yelled into the phone.

“What?” he
asked, confusion evident in his tone.

“Please, I
need to tell you something. I hate to do this over the phone, but I think it’s
the easiest way.”

“Do what?”

Emily took a
deep breath. “I don’t love you, Jason. And
it’s
time
for you to stop pining for me. You need to move on with your life, find that
special someone to be happy with. You’ll always be Sadie’s father, but you’ll
never be my husband.”

“Emily,”
Jason breathed, voice cracking with pain. “What are you saying?”

“You know
what I’m saying, but let me be perfectly clear. I don’t love you. I don’t want
to move back to
Mosquero
. I don’t want to be with
you. I don’t want to marry you.”

“If you’d
just let me explain,
Em
, I know you’d see things
differently.”

“Jason, you
think no one has given me other scenarios? Like I’ve never thought of different
scenarios?” Emily laughed. “Everyone is on your side, Jason. Everyone. And they
all tell me that it’s not entirely your fault. Bully for them. But I was
there
that night. I know what I saw. And I cannot forget it, Jason. I can’t. You
messed up, and the consequence is losing me forever. It’s over, well and truly
over.”

“You can’t
mean it,
Em
. You can’t. I love you!”

“You
think
you love me, but how would you know? You’ve spent all this time chasing after
me, even after I told you I didn’t want to be chased. You haven’t given any
other woman a chance.”

“I don’t
want any other woman.”

“It doesn’t
matter because I don’t want you.”

“
Em
.” Jason sighed.

“No. It’s
over. I don’t want to hear from you again.” Emily turned her face from the
phone and Lila pressed the end button. “It’s done. I think he gets it now,” she
said sadly.

“We’ll see,
won’t we.” Lila reached down and ran the barrel of the gun down the side of
Em’s
face.

Emily eyed
Lila warily. “What now?”

“Now, I’m
going to make myself a drink, sit by the fire, and call my future husband.”

“What?”
Edward grunted. “I’m your future husband.”

Lila smiled
and slowly walked toward him. She stood in front of him and raised her face. “Just
joking, darling,” and pressed her lips to his. “Of course you are.”

As they kissed,
Lila raised the gun and shot him in the head.

Emily
screamed and slammed her eyes shut. She’d seen his head explode and knew that
image would never leave her.

Lila
laughed. “You’re probably wondering why I did that.”

Emily moaned
and nodded.

“Because I
no longer needed him.” Lila smiled. “He’s been a thorn in my side since I was a
teenager. Frankly, it’s a relief to be done with him.”

“You’ve
known him since you were a teenager?” Emily asked, astonished.

“He’s
technically
the reason I came to
Mosquero
to begin with.”

“Your
stalker,” Emily breathed.

“Exactly.
And the man who knocked me up, which was the final nail in the coffin and the
reason I really had to leave Boston. If Mom and Dad had found out, I’d have
been done for. Socially and within the family. They would have shipped me off
to God knows where, forced me to give up the child, and then cut me off.”

“They wouldn’t,”
Emily began.

“The hell
they wouldn’t! Their place in society meant the world to them then. I’m sure it
still does, though I barely speak to them.”

“But you’re
their daughter.”

“Doesn’t
matter. Hope was lucky, she got the good Daddy. Mine, not so much. Power, fame,
money—those were important to my father and having a daughter knocked up at
sixteen would have been an impossible pill for him to swallow.”

“I can’t
even fathom having parents like that,” Emily said sadly.

“That’s
because you hit the jackpot on parents,” Lila said meanly. “You could murder
Mother Theresa and they’d still love you. They might be a bit disappointed in
you, but you’ve been blessed with unconditional love.”

“That’s not
my fault.”

“No, but it
is your fault when you flaunt that all over town. Rubbing it in people’s faces
and excluding them because you’re better than they are.”

“I do not!”

“You never
accepted me, not once.”

“Because you
were such a bitch!” Emily said, exasperated. “You were always getting us in
trouble, always butting in, always just in the way. You expected us to treat
you like we’d known you forever when we didn’t know you from Adam. You were manipulative,
tricky, mean. Where in any of that was there room for us to open our arms and
let you in?”

“Don’t you
know the people who need love the most are the ones who ask for it in the least
appropriate of ways?”

“Sure, I
know that
now
. But who knows that when they’re in high school?”

“And yet,
even knowing that now, you still hold me at arm’s length.”

“I hold you
back because I don’t like you, Lila. I don’t like your personality. I don’t
like you as a person. You don’t make my life better, you make it worse. And
beyond all that, I could never forgive what you did with Jason.”

Lila
giggled. “Oh darling, we didn’t
do
anything beyond what you saw.”

“What do you
mean?” Emily snapped.

“Tsk, tsk,”
Lila murmured. She raised the gun slightly, pointing it directly between Emily’s
eyes. “You need to be nice.”

Emily’s eyes
darted to the doorway, revulsion and panic rising steadily. Lila was definitely
not in her right mind and Emily needed to keep that thought in the forefront of
her
mind.

“I’m sorry,”
she said earnestly.

Lila nodded
and lowered the gun. Smiling slyly, she continued her taunting. “We kissed, he
fondled me, and then he passed out. About two minutes after you fled back home.”
She walked over to the door. “You can stew about how everyone was right and you
were so, so wrong. How you could have had him all this time. How your pride was
your downfall.” Lila laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Now he’s going to be all
mine. I’m going to let you think about that for a little while. I need to go
call Jason.” She turned and waggled her fingers in Emily’s direction.